As the passage of time moves on, we are slowly getting acquainted with the fact that the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) does not have the gift of love even for its own people. UMNO is slowly learning that its material possessions which it had been hungry to accumulate, has deprived the very masses who had faithfully given it their unfailing support to keep it in power for 52 years. The masses that supported UMNO through the Barisan National (BN) live in abject poverty or just above the poverty line or have a means of living that is of a subsistence nature.

It is now clear and explicit, that the New Economic Policy (NEP) and all the other policies that were conceived by UMNO have in a general sense, failed to empower the masses. But on the other hand the NEP and all the other policies have only brought into our society, corruption, cronyism, nepotism which enabled UMNO to create some new found millionaires or multi-millionaires.

During this process, UMNO and its leaders lost their inner soul in managing the nations Human Capital and the vastly endowed natural resources, by the process of systemic discrimination which has been on racial lines, in its educational policies, employment policies and in the sphere of all business related matters. The ugly head of Malay Supermacy was being blatantly propagated, whilst the other coalition partners under the umbrella of the BN gave their tacit approval.

During the period of UMNO’s dominance until March 8 of 2008, there was an absolute lack of competency, accountability and transparency in the workings of almost all governmental institutions. In the name of Malay Supremacy mediocre persons have been appointed to almost all senior positions in almost all the institutions of the government which includes the institutions of higher learning.

UMNO in the first place never had the gift of authorship. Then it went on to rear it ugly Malay Supremacy head. In the process UMNO did not show that it cared for the masses whilst it had the power, as it is significant when it comes to dealing with the masses. A caring government shares its power freely with the masses and the masses who receive the care of the government will reciprocate accordingly.

Now after having had lost its two-third majority in Parliament UMNO has gone on an overdrive to demonstrate to the masses that it cares for the masses. On the one hand the government has introduced a moribund 1Malaysia Concept. This is clearly seen as that of a denial syndrome. The government has indeed lost its spirit and its right to demonstrate to the masses that it cares for their welfare and well being. All its current conceived ideals would not be able to create a way of life for the masses to accept and follow with the exception of its cronies.

We as a nation are facing a brain drain. Then we have a fright of capital from both the local and international investors. Even before the Allah issue became international news, we were sinking in terms of Foreign Direct Investment.

So the question that has to be asked is: Has UMNO lost its Roots?

The answer would have to be in the Positive.

This is owing to the fact that UMNO has by its acts and conduct demonstrated that it does not have an open heart. As UMNO seems to be the backbone of the government and if it has had a open heart it would be vulnerable and if that was the case the government would have allowed its institutions to drop their masks, and meet the diverse peoples grievances heart to heart.

All contentious issues would be discussed in a spirit of goodwill and we as the masses would experience a sense of unity and delight in the prevalence of an atmosphere of voluntary human exchanges. The end result would be the reflection that gives rise to a situation that mold the soul of the community, where the people live in peace and harmony. But this is not the case.

Whilst the people in general are tolerant and do live in peace and harmony, the government through UMNO is attempting to convert a democratic nation into a police state. Some resent examples would suffice.

The rape of the Perak State Assembly as executed by Najib. The aftermath of the police action, against passive resistance carried out by the people on the death of democracy.

Then the action of the police for using chemically laced water cannons against peaceful demonstrators and the arrest and detention of some of the peaceful demonstrators.

The ban issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)against the Catholic Church on the use of the word Allah in the Malay version of the Herald where the Church was compelled to go to court and obtain a declaration on its constitutional rights. The Church succeeded and the government announced that it cannot stop religious fanatics from carrying out demonstrations after Friday prayers.

Then there was a ban on the book entitled Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism edited by the sociologist Prof Norani Othman which was published for a non-governmental organization the Sisters in Islam (SIS). The government claims that the book is inclined towards confusing the Muslim community especially the women. The High Court gave an order on 25.01.2010 and lifted the ban issued by MHA.

On the other extreme on the night of 24.01.2010 when Anwar Ibrahim we giving a talk at Kampung Kerinci chaos erupted. The Brickfield district police chief Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid and his henchmen went up on to the stage near the PKNS flats and stopped Anwar from speaking.

Where did this barbarian get his powers from to stop a politician from speaking to the people. This was a clear violation of Article 5 and 10 of the Federal Constitution in respect of a person’s liberty and the freedom of speech and assembly without arms.

Does it not appear to all our people that the institutions of government who are paid by the tax payer are pretending to carry out their duties to save guard UMNO?

It is high time that the masses realize that the institutions of our government are to be neutral and to execute their duties and exercise their power by grace. But it is now apparent to all of us that the act and conduct of the police depicts the collective will of UMNO which is more akin to that of animals.

Since UMNO has lost its roots and as the constricting spiral of their antics undermines our future sense of living in peace and harmony we should now decide that each of our vote at the ballot box against UMNO is going to be stronger than any bullet made by man.

It is clearly apparent that as people of a nation based on the passage of time we have moved into the new year of 2010. We have had to face a puzzling and non productive debate over the generic term of Allah. The political leadership of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) has not been astute and progressive. Whilst UMNO invented paradoxes its immature followers carried out dastardly acts against the places of worship of the Christians and Sikhs.

These uncultured people who carried out such cowardly and low lying criminal acts may have been given encouragement by some non-governmental organizations that have carried out protest after Friday prayers, as these people do seem to have only an irrational soul. They claim that the word Allah should not be allowed to be used by non-Muslims.

The reason for reference to be made to these people for having “an irrational soul” is owing to the fact that all humans to a large extent have some form of faith and belief in some form of religion and visit the house of worship to obtain divine guidance.

We go to a place of worship with humility and seek for divine guidance. And upon obtaining divine guidance, no rational person immediately thereafter shows or demonstrates his anger or displeasure over the use of a generic term.

Hence, it would be an inescapable truth that an irrational soul is the product of a disorderly mind that does not have an appropriate seat of reason, sound imagination, understands that there is good over evil, pseudo memory and malevolence.

On the other hand if these demonstrators claim to be literate and cultured they would in the first place never have carried out such dastardly acts just after Friday prayers. Even if there did prevail a contentious issue over which they were unhappy or had a grievance.

They could have acted in a divine or rational manner by preparing a memorandum stipulating their arguments against the issue with reason and wisdom, imagination and understanding, giving a logical explanation as to why the authorities should give attention to their grievance.

Now by their acts and malevolence, Malaysia has once again made news all over the world. This has compelled the United States of America to issue a “Travel Advisory” to its citizens, not to travel to East Malaysia.

Further, there seems to be a great deal of news on the alternate and print media all over the world which is of a negative nature. This negative news will no doubt have adverse affects on the Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in our nation.

Malaysia has for sometime faced a “brain drain” situation where the best educated people, do not return to the country to serve, because of the governments discriminatory racial policies.

Now we are faced with a lack of FDI and soon we would have less income from our depleting oil reserves. Than, contrary to all matters being under control, there has been a flight of capital from both international and local investors, to greener pastures.

We as a nation of people are placing our hopes on the Pakatan Raykat(PR) to put things right in the near future on what the Barisan National and UMNO have not been able to do in their 52 years of rule.

But then the question that arises is, when will the Party Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) remove the rotten apple, that is, the Kulim-Bandar Baru Member of Parliament Zulkifli Noordin from the party. Anwar, it is time that you take stock of the fanaticism of Zulkifli Noordin (ZN).

We have been a nation of tolerant people but it is people like ZN that cause great apprehension in our communities and our society at large. ZN by his fanaticism is knowingly attempting to tear up the social fabric of PKR and the supporting base of PKR.

The supporters of PR are endeavouring to move on with their lives and hope to make the change at the ballot box. But ZN does not seem to appreciate our patience. Whilst Khalid Samad (KS) has pragmatically aired out his views at various public gatherings that the 1988 enactment on non-Islamic religions was out dated, ZN is calling the police to take action against KS for purportedly ridiculing the Islamic institution.

The Star of 23.01.2010 reports that in response to ZN call KS has stated that “there is an Arabic saying that the dog barks but the caravan moves on. I am not going to respond to his emotionally driven comments. I am just a caravan but I did not say he is the dog.”

This statement was made by KS after KS met the Sultan of Selangor who advised KS to avoid polemics, which in simple terms means avoid controversies.

We as a people of this nation have had a great deal of controversies thrown at us both from the print and alternate media. But the time has come for our politicians to be taught that we need leaders who are ethical and thereon would demonstrate that they are morally experienced.

Therefore, Anwar, we have to make it known to you that PKR should have politicians who are not just moral persons who not only know what is the right course to take for the future well being of the party and the nation but they must choose it as well. As such every individual leader which includes ZN must accept their responsibility for their voluntary actions which will inevitably involve others.

Hence if ZN is not able to be the master of his faith he will not be the captain of his soul. Under that premise ZN would be a fool who would not make more out of the hereafter than he has made of this life. So maybe we should let barking dogs lie.

As citizens of Malaysia the least that we can expect from our Prime Minister is that he will be a distinguished personality with above average mental and moral qualities. This is what we expect to see at our daily place of work, when it comes to giving respect to our superiors.

Therefore, it is not unnatural to come across people who may project an image that they have some form of leadership potential but they totally lack having a commonly accepted standard of character. Hence any leader in any field who has a good character would have the right setting to grow and nature his position.

So before we condemn Najib and conclude that not only does he significantly lack leadership responsibilities but he does and has not demonstrated to us that he is mentally and morally upright and does have a sound character.

Lets us examine the facts which are in the public domain.

Has Najib a destructive weakness which is generally known to the people?

From Najib’s student days in Nottingham University and thereafter when he was planted into the world of politics, after his father’s death, he has had the obsession for drinks and women. He had no control over his obsession.

Next, what will Najib do to be liked and to stay in power?

Well let us go back to the mid 1980 when he was the UMNO youth’s leader. Like his cousin Hishammuddin his favourite act was to wield the Kris and threaten to bathe Kuala Lumpur with the blood of the ethnic Chinese. To defuse the tense situation Mahathir locked up a large number of opposition leaders.

Now that Najib is the Prime Minister let us see the environment in which he operates?

Before Najib became the Prime Minister he was the Defence Minister. We now have the explosive case of the missing Jet engines and parts. Then, there is the case of C4 explosives that are only available in the Defence Ministry that were used to murder Altantua, and when questioned on the revelations made by PI Bala, Najib states it is “frivolous”.

On the other hand before Najib assumed the appointed position of Prime Minister, in February 2009 he diabolically conceived the “Rape” of the Perak State Assembly. Till to date the people of Perak do not have a functional government elected by the people. But the people are patient as it is active and concentrated strength. This strength will be unleashed at the ballot box.

Thereafter, Najib set his eyes on toppling the elected State government of Selangor. Unfortunately, it back fired, with the death of an innocent soul, the late Teoh Beng Hock.

In the meantime, there was a court battle on the use of a generic term “Allah” and the High Court at Kuala Lumpur ruled on December 31, 2009 that the ban by the government against the Catholic Church on the use of the generic term of Allah was unconstitutional.

Did Najib pay attention to the security and well being of the citizens?

Well, Mahathir has openly confirmed that Najib may be a good administrator but not a leader. This is owing to the fact that Najib was planted into the power base, and he does not have the grass root support.

So, when the Allah issue was made public, and some fanatics stated that the generic Arabic term belongs to the Malays, and that they were going to protest after Friday prayers, Najib aided and abetted these fanatics by stating that they cannot be stopped from demonstrating after Friday prayers.

Only a morally defunct leader would state that it is okay for demonstrators to go and pray and there after demonstrate and state that they are going to burn the “Churches of Christians.” This in actual fact they did the very same day. Now he calls the destruction or vandalism of churches as an aberration. For Allah’s sake please grow up.

Najib has not grown out of the shoes of being a Youth Leader who wanted to bathe Kuala Lumpur with Chinese Blood.

Najib, is not fit to be the Prime Minister of a nation. He has to be constantly mentored by Mahathir or checked by the Pakatan Rakyat.

Najib, has created an environment that threatens generally the sense of the peoples security and their well being. On the other hand he wants to concentrate on creating a situation like his father, so that it will give his the cause for creating an emergency. Sorry, chap, once bitten twice shy.

Najib, does not under any circumstance have the attributes of a leader. He does not have character nor leadership qualities and most of all has no Integrity. He lack’s the courage to make tough decisions, like the decisions made by Anwar in the wake of the church fire bombings.

As Winston Churchill said “ Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the others.”

How true is this statement of Najib and of his antics.

Since that is the reality of the political scenario in UMNO, Najib is not in any position to set any standards. The 1Malaysia Concept is a 1Malayu Concept and nothing more. He is not able to think strategically as his character has been tarnished beyond redemption. Hence, Najib will not be able to think and communicate his thoughts with clarity which would be accepted by the masses as forth coming from a leader who is sincere.

When a leader has a deficiency in his character, like the likes of Najib, he will not be able to build and maintain a sustainable coalition. That is why there is so much of disarray within the Barisan National.

It is now clearly apparent that Najib is not in a position to be considered to be of the same class as that of the leaders of the world. It could also be possible that the world leaders view him as a megalomaniac, who does not have much intellect.

Hence, it is important for the voting masses to determine the type of intellect, character, integrity, charisma and educational background our future leaders have before we decide to vote them into office. Regardless, of the colour of their skin, if they can demonstrate that they have the capacity to be at the top of the political scenario in our diverse society, we should give our support for them. If not we may face an inward disintegration within our national boundary.

Hopefully, the future leaders that we choose will be intellectually honest with the votes. They must also above all recognize the impulse of the past and never carry it into the future. They should strive to keep well to the fore in any issues of political, legal or technical innovations that would likely have wide social repercussions.

Power sharing should be arranged in such a way that the people may not once again be able to recover their roots and maintain their faith and traditions in peace.

A little more than a week has passed since some of the Christians churches were burnt or vandalized. The politicians have had their say. On the other hand the biosphere and the print media from around the world are abound with expressions of dismay at the way the government leaders have argued that the making of the word Allah to be synonymous with the word God may “confuse Muslims and ultimately mislead them into converting to Christianity.”

The question that has to be asked is: Are the Muslim leaders of the government themselves recognizing the fact that the Muslims themselves do not have self confidence in their faith in Islam? Or do the government leaders treat the one and only God of human beings as a tribal deity? Or are the government leaders pronouncing to the world that they have a “copyright” for the word “Allah” as stated by Marina Mahathir?

We have lived in this country where we see that the police force does not tolerate even passive resistance such as the wearing of “Black” shirts or having peaceful demonstrations such as “candle light” vigils and to proclaim that democracy is dead.

So how did the police authorities allow the protesters after Friday prayers to demonstrate at the mosques in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam where they openly carried banners which state “Allah is only for us.” There is even a video that is on You-tube where a protester has shouted the words “bakar gerega” and is this not an offence.

In actual fact on the night after the demonstrations the churches were firebombed or vandalized. Why has that individual not been arrested and charges in court?

Now every United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) politician is trying to make political mileage with the issue of the generic term “Allah.” Khairy endeavours to preach to the Christians that we have to practice religious tolerance. He conveniently does not seem to under that the problems were in the first place diabolically conceived and created by UMNO.

UMNO, for its own survival, has indoctrinated a small band of immature people to think that UMNO has the authority to claim that the name of “Allah” who is the God for all human being’s, is a private property of UMNO. So the issue is no longer a theological matter but has been converted into a political matter.

Then we have Nazri who states that the East Malaysian people of Christian faith can continue to use the generic term Allah. Nazri fails to understand that the people of Sabah and Sarawak have been using it for centuries.

Then as reported in the (Star of 18.01.2010) Nazri states although he agree that the word “Allah” had been long used in Christianity way before Islam existed , Nazri said “That’s why I say it is all right in Sabah and Sarawak but culturally you cannot apply it in a place where Allah has always been Islam’s God.”

Nazri must have become intellectually bankrupt after he joined UMNO. Now we have a God for Islam and a God for Christianity. We also have a Malaysia for Sabah and Sarawak and another Malaysia for Malaya. Is this not a lode of nonsense?

In the Sunday Star of January 17, 2010 it is reported that Muhyiddin the Deputy Prime Minister stating that Nazri’s statement in Sabah and Sarawak was Nazri’s own opinion. Then Muhyiddin goes on to state, “It is not a political issue. It is an issue of peace and harmony in Malaysia being threatened. We must protect this (peace) at all costs.”

As the days pass by it is clearly becoming apparent that the cause of all this confusion about the use of a generic term Allah, are caused by the UMNO leaders in government and UMNO politicians in general.

All their statements appear to be totally illogical. No sane person can make any sense of such politically motivated statements. It is not that the people of the faith of Islam are “confused” but it is apparent that the UMNO politicians are like drowning men trying to clench to the “straw” that is, the generic term of Allah for their own political survival. Thus all their statements on the term Allah are a “logical fiction.”

All people in general are mature and follow the teachings of their faith by reason and wisdom then by blind faith. The government cannot compel a Muslim in general to follow Islam through the prism of reason and wisdom. It ultimately depends on the individual.

This nation has a majority of Muslims. There is no need for the Muslims to feel insecure. But the government leaders should not under any circumstance attempt to regulate the belief of the Muslims in order to protect the leaders so that UMNO can continue to stay in power.

As Hawkin’s has stated religion spreads like a virus infecting the young, depressed, hopeless and those individuals who are at their weakest point, both emotionally and intellectually.

In the same token, Allah does not need Malaysian corrupted politician and leaders to assist Allah to regulate Islam.

Hence the government’s ban on the use of the generic term Allah in the Bible imported from Indonesia and in the Malay language of the Herald is deemed as tyrannical as it grossly violates Article 3, 5, 8, 10 and 11 of the Federal Constitution.

May Allah save us from the tyrannical rule of UMNO as their leaders are ignorant of their faith in Islam. This has led them to their current state of arrogance in not having their faith in all other people who are practicing the Muslim, faith.

Forgive the UMNO leaders, Allah, for they know not what they are doing.

The Catholic Church was compelled to go to the courts to protect its Congregations constitutional rights to use the generic word “Allah” in the Bible. The High Court on December 31 of 2009 ruled that the Christians have a right to the use of the generic term. However, immediately after the ruling was made public, certain sections of the Muslims made it clear that they were going to stage a demonstration after their Friday prayers on January 8 2010, which they did, in a small way.

In the meantime the government had filed an appeal and had made an application for a stay of execution of the decision and the Catholic Church consented to the order. Instead of letting the issue to be determined by the courts, it had become a great political debate and a political game.

Mahathir, the great pseudo Malay, started to fan the flames of discontent of a small section of the Muslims. He, had propagated that the courts would not be able to resolve this dispute. But, Mahathir conveniently forgot that when he was the Prime Minister of this nation for 22 years, it was he who had put a stop to the Catholics of Sabah and Sarawak from printing the Bible in the Malay language and using the word “Allah.”

Let it not be forgotten or overlooked, that the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, have been praying in the Malay language for hundreds of years. Their earliest printed Bibles in the Malay language go back to the early 1800, where the word “Allah” is printed therein.

So who is the cause of this current challenge made by the Catholic Church?

The writing is on the wall. On the other hand Najib as a responsible Prime Minister was expected to be astute and decisive. He failed miserably in his duties and responsibilities to a nation of diverse people who have to inevitably live and meet on a daily basis where their cultures and faiths meet and interpenetrate at a dizzying pace.

However, early last week Hishammuudin when questioned by reporters on the planned demonstrations gave a feeble reply. Instead of stating that the government will not tolerate such demonstrations, this good for nothing mid-eastern mixed blood pseudo Malay stated that people should have the freedom to express their views. Subsequently, Najib endorsed the views expressed by his cousin.

The perpetrators of the demonstrations took the cue that they have received the tacit approval and the blessing of Najib and went ahead with their actions without any remorse. The police force did not take much action on these idiots who endeavoured to become a public nuisance, all in the name of “Allah” who is the one and only God to all human beings.

The government in the first place should have realized that God does not need any assistance from any mortal fallible human beings to regulate religion. In the final analysis the government has failed to realize that it cannot force any adult to change any of his/her thoughts. As Reinhold Niebuhr has rightly stated “ The sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world.”

Therefore, Najib should have exercised the power of his government to defend the inheritance of our civilization and the established order of our civil society, however imperfect it may be.

Needless to say, Najib gave his tacit approval to the religious fanatics to demonstrate on last Friday. This irresponsible act of Najib gave rise to the seeds of tyranny and aggression being sown. And the result was the consequences which was even worst than what would have happened in a war. As even in a war places of worship are never destroyed.

Of all persons, Najib should have realized that under his 1Malaysia Concept he should have mastered the nature of our social fabric and the state in which the said fabric was in, when Najib decided to launch the said concept. Nevertheless the concept is now dead.

It in now apparent that Najib is a hypocrite as he has demonstrated that he vainly does not believe that he has himself mastered the said concept to be the substitute for equality as provided for in Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.

What Najib has done is to demonstrate to the world that he believes in the concept of pure religion. He has miserably failed to act in an unbiased manner. He has failed to demonstrate to the people of this multiracial and religious nation that there is no cure for the pride of a particular group of virtuous people in respect of a particular religion. But instead Najib turned it into a political issue to gain political mileage and now faces the peril for his ignoble conduct.

Now, after several Churches have been firebombed or there were attempts made which did not bring to fruition the desired results, the well known megalomaniac of a Prime Minister states that “In every society there are people who break the law.” (The Star on January 10 2010) What a lame statement.

It is high time that the politicians of all strips either from the ruling government or the opposition realize that “Religion” is a way of life. It is an individual’s belief and faith in a supernatural being and that such kind of faith or belief is like the belief in the Barisan National or the Pakatan Rakyat or in a belief in the concept of liberalism or conservatism.

There is no way that any government can regulate the image making faculty of a man’s mind. A man’s imagination of his religion or his other beliefs or for that matter a custom or tradition makes it real to him. Hence, a belief, custom or tradition cannot be regulated. But it is the responsibility of the government to regulate the actions of men or an individual to protect the interest of other people in this nation of ours.

Najib, the days of waiving the Kris and behaving like a Cave Man is over. We now live in a borderless and globalize world and the people can interpret the hidden messages of politicians which can be transmitted universally at the speed of light. We do not need to rely on the spin that is given by the main stream feeble print media.

There is now available to the masses the visual culture where there is the publication of visual images. These images coupled with voice reproduction, speaks more than a thousand words. As the poet and critic Rachel Lindsay characterized as the “hieroglyphic civilization.” This civilization has opened up the possibilities of reproducing visual images where people can visualize human acts and conduct in a new variety of ways.

Under these prevailing circumstances, it is best that you and your moribund Cabinet Members educate yourselves on the fact that the government has to uphold Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, without bias.

All the Bartizan National politicians must learn with pain that there will be no lasting peace in this beautiful nation of ours should the government and all its henchmen, fail in their duties not merely to tolerate but must respect the faith of all the people of this nation just like their own.

This is premised on the fact that no government however powerful it may be can dictate to adult human beings on what to belief in or how to think.

On 31.12.2009 the High Court at Kuala Lumpur delivered its decision on the judicial review application made by the Catholic Church on the use of the word “Allah” in its weekly magazine called “The Herald.” The Catholic Church was compelled to take legal action to defend its Constitutional Rights. This came about, as a result of the Home Ministry (HM) issuing a ban on the Herald from using the generic word Allah in the Bahasa version of its weekly.

What seems to be of concern, is the fact that the political leaders of the government appear to be illiterate or conveniently pretend that they have no knowledge that this word Allah has been widely used long before Prophet Muhammad, son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Muttalib went to a cave in the desert on a hill not far from Makkah for his month long quite meditation, when he had his first revelation.

The Makkans claimed descent from Abraham through Ishmael and tradition states that their temple, The Ka’bah, has been built by Abraham for the worship of the “One God.”

When Mohammad was in the cave at Mount Hira and when he awoke and was reminded of some words that were, “inscribed upon his heart.” he went out of the cave and heard the same awe-inspiring voice say: “O Muhammad! Thou art Allah’s messenger, and I am Gabriel.”

After the angel had vanished, he returned in great distress of mind to his wife Khadijah and told her about what the angel had told him. So on their return to Makkah she took him to her cousin Waraqa ibn Naufal, a very old man, “who knew the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians.” Waraqa declared that in his belief that the heavenly messenger who came to Moses of old had come to Muhammad, and that he was chosen as the Prophet of his people.

The words which came to him when he was in a state of trance are held sacred by the Muslims. The voice said:

“Read: In the name of thy Lord Who Createth,

“Createth man from a clot.

“Read: And it is thy Lord the Most Bountiful

“Who teacheth by the pen,

And these words are never confounded with those which he uttered when no physical change was apparent in him.

And because the angel on Mount Hira bade him “Read” and insisted on his “Reading” though he was illiterate, hence the Sacred Book is known as the Al-Qur’an, “The Reading” as it is the Reading of the man who knew not how to read. The latter writings are referred to as the Hadith or Sunnah of the Prophet.

For the first three years his mission was to only preach to his family and intimate friends, whilst the people of Makkah as a whole who were pagans regarded him as one who had become a little mad. So from being pagans the Arabs converted and became the followers of Muhammad and became Muslims.

Now, against this brief backdrop of the information about how the Prophet converted the Arabs, any literate person, which should be inclusive of the fanatical and ignorant parties and all the people who are the leaders of UMNO, should realize that even their Prophet got his revelations from the angel “Gabriel.” Then Muhammad was taken to consult the men who knew the Scriptures of the Jews and the Christians.

So what is this big issue about the Catholic Church using the generic word “ Allah” in the Herald?

All that the Constitution states is that the religion of the Federation is Islam. It also states that other religions have the right to profess and practice their religion. The constitution also states that we shall have personal liberty, equality and the freedom of speech and expression, which shall be save in accordance with the law.

So, Najib, the 1Malaysia man, can you show or point out a piece of law that states that we cannot express the word “Allah” when we all pray to the one and only “Allah” and we do not have the liberty to write it down or print it in our new letters?

Najib, if you do not know it, you are the Prime Minister of Malaysia and not the PM of UMNO. You have an obligation and a duty to think objectively when there arises a matter of a conflicting nature, and you have to be astute to administer the affairs of this nation, without bias.

But, if you intend to act emotionally and subjectively, you will be the end loser.

The court of public opinion, even amongst the educated ethnic Malays, is that this word “Allah” is a generic word. Do not waste your time in filing an Appeal. Be a man and direct your fanatical members not to make a mockery of themselves in the eyes of the world in general, and in particular, since most of you are immigrants from Indonesia, in the eyes of the Indonesians who have above 10 times of the entire Malaysian Muslims population, as Muslims in their country.

Please grow-up and follow the advise of Reinhold Niebuhr as he said:

“Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems”

And remember, that you and UMNO should not be the cause of the problems. All that the people need is for you to “act honestly and to be ethical” and this nation will have serenity.

We as a nation of people have come a long way from the days when each and every one of our forefathers immigrated to Malaya. The only people of the soil are the Aborigines. The question of nationhood and national identity should now be beyond reproach. This is owing to the fact that Article 14 of the Federal Constitution (FC) provides for Citizenship by operation of law and Article 8 provides for “Equality” of all persons and there shall be no “Discrimination” of any person.

Thus arises the burning issue, why is it that after 52 years of Independence, we the people, have to face an arena of ethnic conflicts? Who is the cause of these conflicts? Are there ethnic chauvinist who are barring the interethnic mingling of the people? Why is it that on a day to day basis no sensitive problems arise when the people are intermingling at every workplace? Or is ethnic conflicts caused by political mobilization by a certain political party, which disrupts the impact of social cohesion?

It is an undeniable fact that before Independence a majority of the ethnic Malays lived in the kampongs whilst the ethnic Chinese lived in the towns and the ethnic Indians lived in the estates. This was the result of the “divide and rule” legacy of the colonial culture imposed by the British.

It is a sad state of affairs that we as a nation of united people have to be of the realization that after 52 years of attaining independence, our government leaders in UMNO still talking in terms of ethnic groups, such as, Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Muruts, Dayaks and so forth.

On a closer examination of the different category of people it would reveal that they are themselves a mixed group and are much more diverse culturally within the given group.

As for the ethnic Malays, they are a cocktail of middle eastern descent, Indians, and such people from Indonesia, that is, Acehnese, Boyanese, Bugis, Jawanese, Minangkabau, Rawa, Mandailing and from many other islands that surround Sumatra, but they may have a common faith and belief in Islam. Nevertheless they still do maintain considerable intra-group cultural differences.

In respect of the ethnic Chinese, they could be sub-divided into at least nine major ethno-linguistic groups, such as, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew, Hiananese, Hochchiew, Kwangsai, Henghua and Hockchia and several other minor ones. The ethnic Chinese are also diverse not only due to their linguistic differences but also have differences in customs, historical experiences and other cultural attributes.

As for the ethnic Indians, they could be sub-divided into Tamils, Malayalis, Telegus, Kanaras, Oriyas, Hyderabadis, Mysoreans, Punjabis, Sikh Punjabis, Pathans, Bengalis, Gujaratis, Maharattas, Sindhis, Rajputs, Marwaris, Parsis and Goans. The Sri Lankans and Pakistanis are generally not considered as Indians. All these South Asian groups display enormous intra-group cultural variation.

Then we have the people of Sabah and Sarawak where there are about 55 ethno-linguistic groups. These people are have been commonly labeled as Kadazans, Muruts, Dayaks, Ibans and Orang Hulu. This group conceals the enormity of their cultural diversity. They have been labeled as Bumiputras, whilst the ethnic Chinese and Indians are not.

As we are all citizens we go to the polls once in five years to elect the government. The government derives it power to govern us from the constitution. The constitution inter alia provides that all the citizens are equal and that there shall be no discrimination. So after 52 years the government through its responsible policies should have achieved cultural homogenization and we the people should be living in a state of cultural pluralism.

But that does not seem to be the case, as there seems to be an artificially created inter-ethnic instability within our communities and the society at large. There seems to be some form of inherently flawed policies which have been diabolically conceived and executed by the government that is causing a great deal of damage to the efforts put in by the people to live in cultural peace and harmony, on a day to day basis.

Recently it has been exposed in the media that the government has since the year of 1980 or thereafter introduced through the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) a course to brainwash especially ethic Malay Students at the Public Universities by indoctrinating then on the concept of Ketuanan Melayu or “Malay superiority”(MS).

They also propagate and disseminate the MS concept on the youth through indoctrination camps through a song entitled “Anak Kecil Main Api” (A Child Plays with Fire) where one verse concerns the power of the ethnic Malays: which is,

Kini kita Cuma tinggal

Yang akan menentukan

Hasilmengalir, ke tangan yang lian

Pribumi merintih sendiri.

A loose translation is as follows:

Political power is what we are only left with

One that will determine the faith of our nation

Wealth of this nation flows into the hands of others

Sons and Daughters of the soil suffer in solace.

It is clearly apparent that the Public Universities have lost their fundamental principle of university autonomy. The government dictates on how to maintain academic standards. The universities is no longer regarded and guarded as a leading light and the centre where a student can be free to be in the pursuit of knowledge and the truth.

As Syed Husin Ali in an essay appropriately entitled “ Death Knell for Varsity Autonomy” where he concluded by borrowing the words of the poet Rabindranath Tagore and stated that a university should genuinely be a centre “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high and where knowledge is free.”

It is now apparent that the government has grossly violated the doctrine of the mandate we gave them to govern. They have instead focused their attention on instilling fear in the consciousness of the feeble minds of the ethnic Malays which is to make them hate other ethnic communities. In actual fact based on divine justice the ethnic Malays have themselves realized that the enemies of the ethnic Malays are UMNO leaders.

The technique of UMNO has been to colonise the consciousness of the ethnic Malays through a technique that was pioneered by Barzakov and Lozanov in the 1970 called “suggestopedia” which is a method used to instill a deep sense of fear for oneself and hatred of others. You can go to the link to learn more of this technique.

With the growth of a new ethnic Malay middle class and with the people applying their native intelligence and commonsense to the attempted indoctrination by the mediocre UMNO political leaders, the people have realized that the days of master and slave is an outdated concept.

The current middle class in the society realize that the only way forward is to forge proper economic partnerships where there will be interplay between knowledge, experience, ideology and technology which has to be developed to function productively for the mutual benefits of the partnership.

The people are no longer keen to devote their attention to UMNO brutes, xenophobia in respect of other ethnic groups who are the citizens of this nation, where these chauvinistic brutes only want to cling on to power to enrich them selves. .

There is no praise that can be showered on the passing of this man by the court of public opinion.

He knew what he was doing as a learned man but yet grossly violated the Oath And Affirmation of Office he took as a Judge as provided for in the Sixth Schedule of the Federal Constitution which states:

“I Augustine Paul, having been appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Malaya do solemnly swear that I will faithfully discharge my duties in that office to the best of my ability, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Malaysia, and will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”

Contrary, to the “solemn” oath that Augustine Paul took, he abused his powers and made a mockery of the due process of the law.

In this respect may we borrow a quotation from Rudyard Kipling: that is, “For the sin they do by two and two they must pay for one by one.”

And that is the only fitting remark that can be given to the passing of Augustine Paul by all the standards of our charitableness.

In any democracy it is the voting populace that that make the resolution to change the system of a government. We are a sovereign nation. Since achieving independence some 52 years ago our forefathers have on the basis of a balance of convenience faltered in the exercise of their democratic rights. They chose leaders who sold our constitutional rights to the United Malay National Organization (UMNO).

They did not choose astute political leaders. The leaders failed to uphold our political trust. Hence they destroyed our social trust vested on them. They transformed our political trust into a vacuum which we in March 2008 consigned to the dustbin of history. Now at least some form of change has been set in motion on the running of our government. This has given rise to some form of checks and balance.

Based on the psychological reasoning of a large cross-section of the current voting populace regardless of their ethnicity, the people are inclined to exercise their power of the expression of their thoughts, and want to rise up and shake of the existing government’s political mobilization, which have been premised on ethnic lines.

As Malaysia has a population of 35% who are at the age bracket of 25 years and below, we have a new middle class of the voting populace that have realized that the existing government’s ethnic based social policies have as a whole been disruptive on social cohesion. This is also owing to the fact that there now exist the issue of inter-racial marriages that are taking shape.

Further, the government has instead of maintaining and improving upon the principles of democratic governance and creating a better civil society, have ensured that UMNO politicians have had a card blanch to exploit racial and religious issues and gain political mileage to obtain and consolidate their power base. At all cost these UMNO politicians strived to enhance their popularity and have enlisted the power of the Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM) to quell any form of passive resistance that arose.

On the other hand the affirmative action policy of UMNO which was introduced in 1970 has not reduced the inequities between the various ethnic groups, which include a large section of the ethnic Malays. It only discriminated against the ethnic Chinese and Indians.

There is no doubt that the quota system for entry into tertiary institutions did help to create a new Malay middle class. But in the process it created serious interethnic disparities on wealth generation and on the income of other ethnic groups including the ethnic Malays and the Bumiputras which has no legal meaning.

However, the UMNO politicians of the past which includes Mahathir realized that the government with all its powers could not compel even with legislation and administrative orders, an acceptable market dominated policies. Faced with this daunting task, the government incorporated a large number of Government Linked Corporations (GLC). These GLC’s predominantly employ ethnic Malays. The sad fact is that almost all the GLC’s are a loss making entity, which have been established at the expense of the tax payer.

Then, with preferential entry into tertiary institutions, we have created a large section of “mediocre highly qualified professionals” who pass with the barest of the minimum marks and upon graduation join the civil service and do not have “character.” Hence, we have now inherited not only a government that lacks in character and integrity but a mediocre civil service which lacks commitment, instinct, initiative, integrity and character.

This prevailing scenario has given rise to the lack of competency, accountability and transparency where the end result is the institutionalization of cronyism, nepotism and wide scale corruption.

It has been the hallmark of good governance, in any institution, that leaders have to be astute and with that naturally comes intelligence and instinct and the ensuing result would be an impressive leader(s) who would have integrity, who we can respect. But, we currently do not have such leaders.

What we have before us in the UMNO leadership, the GLC and the civil service, are “Ali Baba and the 40 thieves”, robber barons and murderers.

As these political leaders are so consumed with their megalomaniac acts, they seem to be unaware that there is a transformation taking place within our communities and our wider society. There is a new form of political mobilization taking shape where the barriers created by UMNO to divide and rule the various ethnic groups, are being dismantled.

In its place is set in motion multicultural party politics that evolve to the challenge of totalizing in character, and unifying the diverse ethnic groups into one common platform. This is in reference to the “Common Policy Framework” document recently issued by the Pakatan Rakyat.

The current youths in our society do recognize the commonalities in their outlook in life and shun the regulations, religious or otherwise, that are imposed upon them against their will. They want to have a free space to expound their thoughts and actions, without any interference from the regulatory authorities.

There is currently a transformation taking shape and is deepening amongst the middle class youth which points to the inter-linkages amongst people of different ethnic backgrounds. This has arisen owing to the fact that during their daily activities at their place of work or because of their duties and responsibilities entrusted upon them and to complete their assignments there is an inclination that gives rise to there being some form of close contact or engagement with each other.

Then, there also arises the new form of business co-operation taking shape both in the traditional business environment where the second or third generation of the minority ethnic communities, have taken over the reigns of power or partnerships are being formed in the knowledge based sector of the economy, where business is established on the basis of mutual benefits.

Here there is a growing interest in interethnic business ties being further enhanced and put into practice. So, it gives rise to the opportunity for the building of an increased interethnic character which would eventually lead to a closer bond of understanding being established where inter-racial harmony will prevail.

Whilst our government has all along endeavoured to “divide and rule” the people, it was the people who have since March 2008 demonstrated to the government, that such policies have to be consigned to the dustbins of history.

Resulting from the simple act of casting a vote with our conscience for democracy and a better civil society, Najib announced the 1Malaysia Concept. This announcement clearly demonstrates that the government has given recognition to the fact that we are “unacknowledged legislators” who can through our concerted and united acts bring about change.

We should not compromise the fact that 5 decades or so ago our founding fathers received a “Constitution” which emphatically and categorically stipulates in Article 8 that “All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.”

Based on the Najib’s government’s policies, we can clearly discern that the government has a trait of fickleness or fluidity in the making of policies. We as the unacknowledged legislators can over time make the government to change their mind for the creation of a better and equitable society and demand that the government make an announcement that they have done so.

We should demand for policies that lead to the integration of the various ethnic groups on the basis of equality and such policies should resonate amongst the people. Should the government not heed to our call for change, then as the Greek poetic Archilochus said, we should say to them: I am a “Fox” that aspires to be a “hedgehog.”

We are presumed to be a nation of highly educated people. A large proportion of us are capable of deepening our knowledge and shaping our mind with the use of the internet. Knowledge is abound on the internet. With one click of the mouse we could obtain a wealth of information. Conversely with such facilities being readily at our disposal we can secure information and genuinely make a transformation of our mind, when our knowledge or skill veers into new and uncharted territory.

So why has a legal battle to be waged in a court of law over a “generic” term Allah?

This is owing to the fact that the Ministry of Home Affairs has barred the Roman Catholic Church from using the word “Allah” in its weekly publication The Herald. The Federal Constitution states that Islam is the religion of the federation. It does not prohibit the use of the word “Allah.” But the Home Ministry (HM) claims that it is a threat to national security. How could it be so?

The Quran at chapter XXIII AL-Muminun, or The Believers at verse 91 categorically states: “No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods), behold each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah! (He is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to him!”

So, since the Quran itself states that there is only one God, how does the HM claim that there is a threat to national security?

Could it be that the HM has an original formation of mind that is still like that of a young child which is only capable of conceiving ideas without understanding the composition and the motions of this world?

Or does the HM need an adult education course to contrast and understand history and evolutionary psychology?

If only the HM were to use the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) facilities their lawyers would not have made fools of themselves for having had raised such scandalous, frivolous and vexatious arguments in court that by the use of a generic term, the word “Allah” would be a threat to national security.

Why would it be so?

There are many scholars who have carried out research papers on this generic word “Allah.” Many scholars conclude that “Allah” is derived from a compound of an Arabic word, AL + ILAH = Allah. They confirm that “ILAH” in Arabic is “God” and “AI” in Arabic is a definitive article like our word “the”.

Therefore, from the English equivalent the word “Allah” comes from “The + God”. There is also another theory that the word “Allah” was borrowed into the language in pre-Islamic times from Aramaic.

The are historians like Vaqqidi who state that Allah was actually the chief of 360 gods, that is, one god for each day of the year being worshipped in Arabia at the time Muhammad rose to prominence

Ibn Al-Kalbi gave 27 names of pre-Islamic deities. Interestingly, not many Muslims want to accept that Allah was already being worshipped at the Ka’ba in Mecca by Arab pagans before Muhammad came. Some Muslims become angry when they are confronted with this fact. But history is not on their side. Pre-Islamic literature has proved this.

In order to obtain a better understanding of the word “Allah” it is suggested that the reader do make an effort to go the following links and read up the information for their own understanding and knowledge.

We all know that common sense dictates that God has not appointed any mortal soul to regulate our religious belief. In the same vain Hawkins has pointed out that religion spreads like a virus and inflicts the young when they are depressed and feel hopeless. It also inflicts individuals who are weak emotionally and intellectually. But not thieves, robber barons and murders, like the Jet engines, PKFZ scandal or the C4 murder of Altantua.

The HM should of all institutions of the government understand that we are a secular nation. We have our rights enshrined in the constitution. Religion is a way of life. And each one of us gives our veneration to God in our own way. The last thing that any government should ever think of doing is to regulate our belief in God as it is a personal matter between each and every one of us and God.

Therefore the act of banning the Herald from using the word “Allah” is in itself an unconstitutional act under the provisions of Article 3, 10 and 11 of the Federal Constitution. As such, the Freedom to practice ones religion is premised on a person’s belief and based on such a belief the use of the choice of words to express the belief cannot under any circumstance whatsoever be regulated.

If it was ever permitted, then it would cause violence to the constitutional rights of the people who have a belief in that faith. Of course an elected government has the mandate to formulate policies for the common good of all its citizens. But it has no power to determine as to how to direct or dictate to its citizens on how, what, where, why and in what form or manner they are to believe and to think about their religious beliefs.

Therefore our government should not forget the basic question of why it was elected and it should not lose sight of the mandate it has been given to govern but should always understand that its role to manage the nation is inauthentic as it does not have any power to manage our thoughts and our faith in God.